Mninawa Ntloko
16 November 2009
Johannesburg — BAFANA Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has advised visibly heavy striker Benni McCarthy to seriously consider a move away from English premier league side Blackburn Rovers during the January transfer window if he wants to lead the national team to the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Parreira substituted the panting player during the second half of the friendly international against Japan in Port Elizabeth at the weekend and the worried Brazilian said McCarthy -- who spends most of his time warming the bench at Rovers these days -- was nowhere near the required level of match fitness.
"I cannot decide for him but I do not think that players like him should be happy with just sitting on the bench," Parreira said.
"If he wants my advice, he should look for a club where he can play regularly."
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has already indicated that he is ready to listen to any club that is willing to take McCarthy off his hands, and McCarthy revealed that there has been no shortage of suitors.
McCarthy's recall to the national team last week was hailed as a masterstroke by many and the self-proclaimed Messiah of South African football was supposed to solve Bafana's goal-scoring problems.
The man himself boasted that he only needed one touch to score goals and further claimed that he was a rare breed of player who could win matches with a single stroke of genius. But he was a shadow of his former self in Port Elizabeth and Parreira admitted that he was completely out of shape.
He received several touches on Saturday but never looked like scoring at any point during the match. McCarthy apparently struggled to keep up even at training on the eve of the match and it was clear that he was never going to finish the game.
"I think we need to give him time because he is not in the best of shape. He is not up to the required level of fitness but I think he will come right with our fitness programme.
"In his defence, it was not only his fitness that made him perform so below standard. We have to bear in mind that he had never played with some of the players in the national team and was playing with partner Katlego Mphela for the first time."
Parreira said he was happy that his reunion with Bafana began on a positive footing and his first match in charge did not end in defeat -- the game ended 0-0.
"The world was made by Jesus Christ in six days and we cannot rebuild the national team after just three training sessions," the Brazilian said.
"Organisation wise, I think we are OK. I have to work more on keeping possession but that will come with time.
"I think this was a positive start but we have to aim higher from now on.
"This is a new beginning for me and the team. We played against a very good team and needed to start somewhere. We watched their (Japan) last four matches and we were very, very impressed.
"They are a very experienced side and they managed to score 20 goals in those matches (against Togo, Scotland, Hong Kong and Ghana)."
Parreira said he would make four changes to his side when Bafana face Jamaica at Bloemfontein Stadium tomorrow.
The Brazilian said he would not dare underestimate the Reggae Boyz -- who are ranked 69th on the Fifa rankings -- and would tread very carefully tomorrow.
"If you look at the rankings, you might think that the Jamaicans are weaker than 40th-ranked Japan. But these are the kinds of games that fool you if take teams lightly."
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i think parrera should first look closely at his attacking players before saying much about benni.i watched that game on saturday and i must say we failed to break the japanese defence,simply because we dont have ruthless midfielders,i mean i have never seen any of those midfielders passing the ball to our strikers.benni is the best,our midfield is the weakest link,they dont score,they on strikers.they should also score goals.